DOCSLIB.ORG

Out and About in Shaftesbury Carole Dorran

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Out and About in Shaftesbury Carole Dorran Out and About in Shaftesbury Carole Dorran Shaftesbury in North Dorset is one of the highest towns in England, standing as it does at 750 feet above sea level. As with many high points in the area, the first settlement was established around 8000 years ago in the middle of the Stone Age. The town went on to become hugely important during Medieval times and has long been an important cross roads for trade, sitting as it does in the heart of the Blackmore Vale. Named Shaston by the author Thomas Hardy in his Wessex novels, this town has much to offer. The Historian – Autumn 2013 41 Gold Hill, Shaftesbury. St Peter’s Church and the Town Hall, Shaftesbury. Its first record as a town is written in the Burghal Hidage, the walls of the abbey, it was originally a pilgrim church and when Alfred the Great, Saxon King, founded a burgh-or is noted for its vaulted porch and crypt. The church occupies fortified settlement-in 880 AD as a defence against Viking a prime position where the cobbled Gold Hill meets the High invaders. But Shaftesbury really came to prominence when Street; any visitor to Shaftesbury should spare a little time to see King Alfred established an abbey in the town, placing his this beautiful Saxon church. daughter Ethelgiva as the first Abbess. It became the wealthiest The abbey prospered for nearly 700 years until the Benedictine nunnery in England, owning land and property Dissolution of the Monasteries; in 1539 under the orders of from Purbeck in the south to Bradford-on-Avon in the North. King Henry VIII, the last Abbess of Shaftesbury, Elizabeth Athelstan founded three royal mints, producing pennies that Zouche, signed a deed of surrender. The abbey was extremely bore the town’s name. In 981, the relics of King Edward, who wealthy at that time; the lands were sold and the abbey was was murdered at Corfe Castle, were transferred from Wareham demolished, leading to a temporary decline in the town. Much and were received at Shaftesbury Abbey with great ceremony, of the abbey materials, notably the unusual green sandstone, turning the town into an important place of pilgrimage for were salvaged and used to build local houses. There are still miracles of healing at his shrine. In 1001, he was canonised thatched cottages existing today around the town whose walls and became St Edward the Martyr. In 1035 King Canute, who were built from the abbey stones. In 1540, Sir Thomas Arundel was a regular visitor to Shaftesbury Abbey, died while in the of nearby Wardour Castle purchased the abbey along with town, though he isn’t buried there. In the Domesday Book the much of the town. However, he was later executed for treason town was known as Scaepterbyrg with its ownership equally and his lands were forfeited. The abbey and town passed to the shared between king and abbey. In 1240, Cardinal Otto, legate Earl of Pembroke, then to Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of to the Apostolic See of Pope Gregory IX, made a visit to the Shaftesbury, before passing to the Grosvenors. It wasn’t until abbey and confirmed a charter of 1191, the first entered in the 1919 that a syndicate of three local men bought the town of Glastonbury chartulary. Shaftesbury for £80,000, after which they held an auction to sell During the Middle Ages, the abbey was the central focus over 300 lots to local householders and shopkeepers. of the town. A charter to hold a market was granted in 1260; Since then the ruins of the abbey have been excavated in 1392 Richard II granted an increase to two markets. The and lie within a peaceful walled garden, along with a museum mayor had become a recognised figure by 1340, sworn in by recounting the history of the site. The modern day visitor can the steward of the abbess. Sometime between 1400 and 1539 walk amongst the ruins and view where St Edward the Martyr’s Edwardstow, which is Shaftesbury’s oldest surviving building, relics once lay, as well as see the medieval-inspired orchard and was built. The centre part of the house predates the Dissolution extensive historic herb collection. A statue of King Alfred the of Shaftesbury Abbey in 1539. Also around this time a medieval Great looks over the abbey grounds. farm owned by the Abbess of Shaftesbury was established, During the Civil War, Shaftesbury was largely although sadly these days it is now the site of a Tesco Parliamentarian but was in Royalist hands. In August 1645, supermarket car park. In 1501, Catherine of Aragon stayed at Parliamentary forces surrounded the town and Colonel Charles the abbey on her way to marry Prince Arthur, older brother of Fleetwood surrounded and dispersed 1000 Clubmen, many of the future Henry VIII. whom were arrested and sent to trial in Sherborne. St Peter’s church is the most ancient of all the town’s The historic Georgian town hall, which is next door to St churches. Built in the latter part of the fifteenth century outside Peter’s Church, was built in 1827 by Earl Grosvenor after the 42 The Historian – Autumn 2013 The pumpyard, St James, Shaftesbury Guildhall had been demolished to widen the High Street. The clock tower was added in 1879. The building has since been designated a grade II listing by English Heritage. Inside the town hall is a beautiful mural depicting the history of the town which local artist Phyllis Wolff was commissioned to paint in 1979. During the eighteenth century, Shaftesbury became an important stagecoach centre due to five main roads meeting in the town, although extra horses were required to pull the heavy coaches up the very steep Tout Hill. There were at that time some 30 Holy Trinity Church inns in the town, including 3 major coaching inns. However the coming of the railways in the mid 1800’s did much to damage Shaftesbury’s coaching trade; the town became a backwater for a time after the railways completely bypassed the town. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century the main industries in and around Shaftesbury were agriculture, button making and weaving, although mechanisation later caused unemployment and emigration. The town museum is situated behind the town hall at the top of Gold Hill and has many displays of Dorset Buttons which were made locally, as well as many more interesting local artefacts, including the town’s very first fire engine dating from 1744, making it the oldest in Dorset. The The fire engine, dating from 1744, is Dorset’s oldest. museum building itself was once a doss house, providing accommodation for the drovers, jugglers and traders who came to the town’s markets and fairs. No visit to Shaftesbury would be complete without seeing Gold Hill. This ancient steep and cobbled street runs beside the walls of the abbey and used to be the main street in Shaftesbury. With far reaching views across the Blackmore Vale, Gold Hill is picturesque; however, it’s probably best known for having been the location for a 1973 Hovis bread television advert featuring a boy on a bike. The voiceover was distinctly Northern-accented, leaving many people convinced that the advert was filmed in Yorkshire. The street also featured in the 1967 film version of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd starring Julie Christie and Terence Stamp. The has an ancient pump in its midst. Due stunning countryside in England, there view is instantly recognisable to many to the town’s steep position, water had to is much to offer in the area, though these people from seeing it on television but be pumped up the hill from wells to be days it is the car that transports people it really needs to be viewed in reality to sold in the market square. It wasn’t until into the town and brings trade. appreciate just how glorious it is. 1852 that a well was sunk 125 feet deep At the bottom of Gold Hill lies an at Barton Hill so that water could be area of the town known as St James, piped around the town. It was once said Carole Dorran has had a lifelong which is the oldest part of Shaftesbury. that it was cheaper to buy ale than water interest in history, in particular The terraced stone cottages each side of in Shaftesbury. British history. She is also an amateur St James Street were once tenements but Now today Shaftesbury is an genealogist with 15 plus years today are attractive and highly sought important tourist centre, attracting experience; is a keen photographer after properties. Just off St James Street people from all over the world. and loves to photograph things of is the picturesque Pump Yard which still Surrounded by some of the most historical and architectural interest. The Historian – Autumn 2013 43.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Notes and Doamients Downloaded from Burgundian Notes
    310 April Notes and Doamients Downloaded from Burgundian Notes I. THE ALPINE SON-HST-LAW OF EDWARD THE ELDER1 THE continental marriages of the daughters of Edward the http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ Elder present difficulties which have not yet been satisfactorily explained. The earliest author who mentions more than one is Ethelwerd, who wrote in the last quarter of the tenth century and who claimed to be descended from the West Saxon royal line. The preface to his Chronicle is addressed to a certain Matilda, to whom he writes as his kinswoman. She cannot, therefore, be the abbess of Quedlinburg to whom Widukind dedicated his Saxon at UQ Library on July 15, 2015 history, for she was the daughter of Otto the Great by his second marriage with Adelaide the Burgundian. The lady addressed was probably Matilda, abbess of Essen, daughter of Liudolf, Otto's son by his first marriage with Edith.2 Ethelwerd brings together a string of facts relating to the foreign alliances of various members of the English reigning house. He begins with the marriage of Alfred's daughter ^Elfthrythe to Baldwin of Flanders. Then he mentions the daughters of Edward the Elder : first, Eadgyfu married to Charles the Simple ; secondly, Eadhild, wife to Hugh, son of Robert, the great duke. Next he says, Alias veroduas Aedestanus rex tali ratione inisit ad Oddonem, ut quae ab eis placuisset, sibi in matrimonium elegisset; cui visa est melior Eadgyde, ex qua tu principium tenes nativitatis ; alteram vero subiunxit cuidain regi iuxta Iupitereos montes, de cuius prole nulla nbbis notitia extet, tarn pro 1 I am greatly indebted to my friend the Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Memorials of Old Dorset
    :<X> CM \CO = (7> ICO = C0 = 00 [>• CO " I Hfek^M, Memorials of the Counties of England General Editor : Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. Memorials of Old Dorset ?45H xr» MEMORIALS OF OLD DORSET EDITED BY THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. Late Rector of Turnworth, Dorset Author of " Wimborne Minster and Christchurch Priory" ' " Bath and Malmesbury Abbeys" Romsey Abbey" b*c. AND HERBERT PENTIN, M.A. Vicar of Milton Abbey, Dorset Vice-President, Hon. Secretary, and Editor of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club With many Illustrations LONDON BEMROSE & SONS LIMITED, 4 SNOW HILL, E.C. AND DERBY 1907 [All Rights Reserved] TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD EUSTACE CECIL, F.R.G.S. PAST PRESIDENT OF THE DORSET NATURAL HISTORY AND ANTIQUARIAN FIELD CLUB THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY HIS LORDSHIP'S KIND PERMISSION PREFACE editing of this Dorset volume was originally- THEundertaken by the Rev. Thomas Perkins, the scholarly Rector of Turnworth. But he, having formulated its plan and written four papers therefor, besides gathering material for most of the other chapters, was laid aside by a very painful illness, which culminated in his unexpected death. This is a great loss to his many friends, to the present volume, and to the county of for Mr. Perkins knew the as Dorset as a whole ; county few men know it, his literary ability was of no mean order, and his kindness to all with whom he was brought in contact was proverbial. After the death of Mr. Perkins, the editing of the work was entrusted to the Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Edward the Martyr Catholic.Net
    St. Edward the Martyr Catholic.net Edward the Martyr (Old English: Eadweard; c. 962 – 18 March 978) was King of England from 975 until he was murdered in 978. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar the Peaceful but was not his father's acknowledged heir. On Edgar's death, the leadership of England was contested, with some supporting Edward's claim to be king and others supporting his much younger half-brother Æthelred the Unready, recognized as a legitimate son of Edgar. Edward was chosen as king and was crowned by his main clerical supporters, the archbishops Dunstan and Oswald of Worcester. The great nobles of the kingdom, ealdormen Ælfhere and Æthelwine, quarrelled, and civil war almost broke out. In the so-called anti-monastic reaction, the nobles took advantage of Edward's weakness to dispossess the Benedictine reformed monasteries of lands and other properties that King Edgar had granted to them. Edward's short reign was brought to an end by his murder at Corfe Castle in 978 in circumstances that are not altogether clear. His body was reburied with great ceremony at Shaftesbury Abbey early in 979. In 1001 Edward's remains were moved to a more prominent place in the abbey, probably with the blessing of his half-brother King Æthelred. Edward was already reckoned a saint by this time. A number of lives of Edward were written in the centuries following his death in which he was portrayed as a martyr, generally seen as a victim of the Queen Dowager Ælfthryth, mother of Æthelred.
    [Show full text]
  • Thevikingblitzkriegad789-1098.Pdf
    2 In memory of Jeffrey Martin Whittock (1927–2013), much-loved and respected father and papa. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people provided valuable advice which assisted in the preparation of this book; without them, of course, carrying any responsibility for the interpretations offered by the book. We are particularly indebted to our agent Robert Dudley who, as always, offered guidance and support, as did Simon Hamlet and Mark Beynon at The History Press. In addition, Bradford-on-Avon library, and the Wiltshire and the Somerset Library services, provided access to resources through the inter-library loans service. For their help and for this service we are very grateful. Through Hannah’s undergraduate BA studies and then MPhil studies in the department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC) at Cambridge University (2008–12), the invaluable input of many brilliant academics has shaped our understanding of this exciting and complex period of history, and its challenging sources of evidence. The resulting familiarity with Old English, Old Norse and Insular Latin has greatly assisted in critical reflection on the written sources. As always, the support and interest provided by close family and friends cannot be measured but is much appreciated. And they have been patient as meal-time conversations have given way to discussions of the achievements of Alfred and Athelstan, the impact of Eric Bloodaxe and the agendas of the compilers of the 4 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 5 CONTENTS Title Dedication Acknowledgements Introduction 1 The Gathering
    [Show full text]
  • Parish News Page 2
    Anglican Catholic Church of St Augustine Eastling Road, Painters Forstal, Kent ME13 0DU P ARISH N EWS Sunday: 11 am Sung Mass (1st Sunday: Healing Service) Holy Days: As Announced A Very Warm Today, in our Mask Wearing & Social Distancing Apply Kalendar, in addi- WELCOME tion to celebrating the Third Sunday This Sunday is after Trinity, we commemorate the Translation of the Relics of St Trinity III (Comm: Edward. King and Martyr. But what do we Translation of St Edward) mean by this? 20th June 2021 The translation of relics is the removal of holy objects associated with a The Propers of the Saint (or perhaps the Saint’s remains themselves) from one locality to another Mass begin on (usually a higher-status location); usually Page 587 of the red only the movement of the remains of the Book of Common Prayer saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as and Page C59 of the items of clothing, treated with less Anglican Missal ceremony. Translations could be accompanied by many acts, including all-night vigils and processions, often involving entire communities. Often in the early Middle Ages However, Edward's short reign was solemn translation marked the moment at brought to an end by his murder at Corfe which, the saint's miracles having been Castle. Initially buried there, St Edwards recognized, the relic was moved by a relics were translated first on 13th bishop or abbot to a prominent position February 981 to the great Abbey in within the church. Local veneration was Shaftesbury.
    [Show full text]
  • Edward the Martyr
    Edward the Martyr From OrthodoxWiki The holy and right-believing King Edward the Martyr (c. 962 – March 18, 978/979) succeeded his father Edgar of England as King of England in 975, but was murdered after a reign of only a few years. As the murder was attributed to "irreligious" opponents, whereas Edward himself was considered a good Christian, he was glorified as Saint Edward the Martyr in 1001; he may also be considered a passion-bearer. His feast day is celebrated on March 18, the uncovering of his relics is commemorated on February 13, and the elevation of his relics on June 20. The translation of his relics is commemorated on September 3. St. Edward the Martyr Contents 1 Motive and details of his murder 2 History of his relics 3 See also 4 Source 5 External links Motive and details of his murder Edward's accession to the throne was contested by a party headed by his stepmother, Queen Elfrida, who wished her son, Ethelred the Unready, to become king instead. However, Edward's claim had more support—including that of St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury—and was confirmed by the Witan. King Edward "was a young man of great devotion and excellent conduct. He was completely Orthodox, good and of holy life. Moreover, he loved God and the Church above all things. He was generous to the poor, a haven to the good, a champion of the Faith of Christ, a vessel full of every virtuous grace." On King Edward's accession to the throne a great famine was raging through the land and violent attacks were stirred up against monasteries by prominent noblemen who coveted the lands that his father King Edgar had endowed to them.
    [Show full text]
  • 162912442.Pdf
    Emily Mitchell Patronage and Politics at Barking Abbey, c. 950 - c. 1200 Abstract This thesis is a study of the Benedictine abbey of Barking in Essex from the tenth to the twelfth centuries. It is based on a wide range of published and unpublished documentary sources, and on hagiographie texts written at the abbey. It juxtaposes the literary and documentary sources in a new way to show that both are essential for a full understanding of events, and neither can be fully appreciated in isolation. It also deliberately crosses the political boundary of 1066, with the intention of demonstrating that political events were not the most significant determinant of the recipients of benefactors’ religious patronage. It also uses the longer chronological scale to show that patterns of patronage from the Anglo-Saxon era were frequently inherited by the incoming Normans along with their landholdings. Through a detailed discussion of two sets of unpublished charters (Essex Record Office MSS D/DP/Tl and Hatfield, Hatfield House MS Ilford Hospital 1/6) 1 offer new dates and interpretations of several events in the abbey’s history, and identify the abbey’s benefactors from the late tenth century to 1200. As Part III shows, it has been possible to trace patterns of patronage which were passed down through several generations, crossing the political divide of 1066. Royal patronage is shown to have been of great significance to the abbey, and successive kings exploited their power of advowson in different ways according to the political atmosphere o f England. The literary sources are discussed in a separate section, but with full reference to the historical narrative.
    [Show full text]
  • Lives of the British Saints
    LIVES OF THE BRITISH SAINTS Vladimir Moss Copyright: Vladimir Moss, 2009 1. SAINTS ACCA AND ALCMUND, BISHOPS OF HEXHAM ......................5 2. SAINT ADRIAN, ABBOT OF CANTERBURY...............................................8 3. SAINT ADRIAN, HIEROMARTYR BISHOP OF MAY and those with him ....................................................................................................................................9 4. SAINT AIDAN, BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE...............................................11 5. SAINT ALBAN, PROTOMARTYR OF BRITAIN.........................................16 6. SAINT ALCMUND, MARTYR-KING OF NORTHUMBRIA ....................20 7. SAINT ALDHELM, BISHOP OF SHERBORNE...........................................21 8. SAINT ALFRED, MARTYR-PRINCE OF ENGLAND ................................27 9. SAINT ALPHEGE, HIEROMARTYR ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY ..................................................................................................................................30 10. SAINT ALPHEGE “THE BALD”, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER...............41 11. SAINT ASAPH, BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH’S ................................................42 12. SAINTS AUGUSTINE, LAURENCE, MELLITUS, JUSTUS, HONORIUS AND DEUSDEDIT, ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY ..............................43 13. SAINTS BALDRED AND BALDRED, MONKS OF BASS ROCK ...........54 14. SAINT BATHILD, QUEEN OF FRANCE....................................................55 15. SAINT BEDE “THE VENERABLE” OF JARROW .....................................57 16. SAINT BENIGNUS (BEONNA)
    [Show full text]
  • Salisbury Diocese (Including Dorset and Wiltshire)
    Holidays with a religious connection Salisbury Diocese (including Dorset and Wiltshire) Shaftesbury Abbey was founded by Alfred the Great in 888 - he installed his daughter Aethelgifu as the first abbess. It was closed by Thomas Cromwell in 1539 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and is now ruins. Alas the attraction was closed when we visited Shaftesbury on January 2nd, a bank holiday. Day 3 – Shaftesbury On the third day of our visit we travelled to Shaftesbury in Dorset. It’s a town steeped in history – the nunnery, Shaftesbury Abbey was founded by Alfred the Great in 888 and became of the wealthiest in England before its dissolution in 1539. On arrival we took a walk along Abbey Walk, the wonderful promenade that overlooks one of England’s most glorious landscapes. It’s great to have such a feature in the middle of the town. Abbey Walk, Shaftesbury; right - War Memorial in Abbey Walk. The famous Gold Hill, Shaftesbury. It was featured in the 1973 Hovis Bread advertisement, which featured a boy struggling to deliver a loaf to the top of the steep hill, then freewheeling back down again to Dvorak’s ‘New World’ Symphony No 9. It also appears in the 1967 film version of Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd. The film starred Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Terence Stamp and Peter Finch, and was directed by John Schlesinger. Shaftesbury was the ‘Shaston’ in Hardy’s novels. The Hovis ad is commemorated outside the Town Hall, at the top of Gold Hill - visitors can place a donation in the box for the upkeep of the cobbled surface of the hill.
    [Show full text]
  • St Aldhelm's Way
    ST ALDHELM'S WAY AN ANGLO-SAXON PILGRIMAGE FROM DOULTING TO MALMESBURY ST ALDHELM'S LAST JOURNEY ST. ALDHELM c640AD-709 (The Digby Memorial of the 1st Saint of Wessex at Shaftesbury Abbey) Compiled by Rev'd. Chris and Miriam Hare The pilgrimage was walked in 2019 and 2020 AN INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIANITY AND TO THE ANGLO SAXONS Christianity was first practised in Britain towards the end of the second century, and was mostly based in towns where paganism was also practised. Germanic tribes started to settle in Romano-Celtic Britain in the middle of the fifth century. The Angles came from modern Denmark, the Saxons from modern northern Germany and the Jutes from the coast of Germany and Holland. Saxons conquered South West England in the sixth century and formed the kingdom of the West Saxns. They were pagans and Christianity had nearly died out. In 596AD Pope Gregory sent a mission led by Augustine to “ preach the word of God to the English race". They arrived in Thanet in Kent in 597AD. King Aethelberht of Kent's wife was already a Christian, and he was converted and then baptised. Soon after 10,000 converts were baptised on Christmas Day in 597AD, and many others followed. Old churches were restored and new ones were built. Roman Christianity had come to England. Then Pope Gregory’s successor, Honorius, sent another mission with Bishop Birinus to England in 634AD again to preach the gospel. He landed in Wessex, baptised the king of the West Saxons, Cynegils, and then many of the population of Wessex.
    [Show full text]
  • Shroud News Issue #66 August 1991
    A NEWSLETTER ABOUT THE HOLY SHROUD OF TURIN edited by REX MORGAN, Author of several books on the Shroud Issue Number 66 AUGUST 1991 Dr JEAN VOLCKRINGER OF PARIS WHO FIRST PRESENTED THE CELLULOSE DEGRADATION IMAGE FORMATION THEORY IN 1942 DIED ON 6 JUNE 1991 AGED 85 A FEW WEEKS AFTER HIS WORK WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH [Pic: Rex Morgan 1988] 2 SHROUD NEWS No 66 (August 1991) EDITORIAL Since the last issue of Shroud News I have had the privilege of giving an address at the prestigious St Louis, Missouri, Shroud Conference. This was one of the best organised conferences I have attended and the wide range of papers given by experts from several countries provided a great deal of new research information and an enormous exchange of ideas. The very fact that only about 100 delegates attended meant that everyone could talk to everyone else in those vital breaks, befores and afters and everything was brilliantly organised in one building with accommodation hard by. I am preparing a complete report of the conference and all its papers for our October issue. I was, unfortunately, the one able to announce the death of Dr Jean Volckringer to the conference, news of which I had received only the day before in Sydney. My memorial to him is in this issue. After the USA, where I met with numerous members of the Shroud circle, I was able to visit the south of England to pursue some Shroud researches and there I met again with Audrey Dymock Herdsman of Templecombe. This time I managed to persuade her to write her article The Templars' Journey to Somerset.
    [Show full text]
  • 'In Me Porto Crucem': a New Light on the Lost St Margaret's Crux Nigra
    © The Author(s) 2020. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ‘In me porto crucem’: a new light on the lost St Margaret’s crux nigra Francesco Marzella Abstract St Margaret of Scotland owned a reliquary containing a relic of the True Cross known as crux nigra. Both Turgot, Margaret’s biographer, and Aelred of Rievaulx, who spent some years at the court of Margaret’s son, King David, mention the reliquary without offering sufficient information on its origin. The Black Rood was probably lost or destroyed in the sixteenth century. Some lines written on the margins of a twelfth- century manuscript containing Aelred’s Genealogia regum Anglorum can now shed a new light on this sacred object. The mysterious lines, originally written on the Black Rood or more probably on the casket in which it was contained, claim that the relic once belonged to an Anglo-Saxon king, and at the same time they seem to convey a signifi- cant political message. In his biography of St Margaret of Scotland,1 Turgot († 1115),2 at the time prior of Durham, mentioned an object that was particularly dear to the queen. It was a cross known as crux nigra. In chapter XIII of his Vita sanctae Margaretae, Turgot tells how the queen wanted to see it for the last time when she felt death was imminent: 3 Ipsa quoque illam, quam Nigram Crucem nominare, quamque in maxima semper ven- eratione habere consuevit, sibi afferri præcepit.
    [Show full text]